Glossary of Terms to Help You Understand
the First Baptist Church Story
and Basic Baptist Principles

Soul Competency and Soul Freedom. This is perhaps the distinctive belief of historic Baptist faith. It refers to the individual's competency under God to relate to God without the need of any intermediary. God does not coerce human faith, and persons are responsible for their own choices. Implications are that the individual is also competent to read and interpret the Bible for him or herself without requiring an official interpretation from any religious leader or group. Related to this and to the Priesthood of all believers (see below) is that Baptists are non-hierarchical and non-creedal. Further, no Baptist, ideally, speaks for another in matters of faith.

Priesthood of All Believers. This refers to all believers as having equal footing before God. No particular believers, religious leaders or groups have a higher spiritual place in God's kingdom. It also means that all believers comprise a "holy priesthood" a "royal nation" (1 Peter 2:5,9; Rev. 1:5-6). This foundational Baptist principle implies that believers are to help and serve one another, as well as those not sharing the same faith. If Soul Competency declares "what we are," the Priesthood of All Believers" declares "how we do."

Local Church Autonomy. Each Baptist church is capable and free to make up its own mind and chart its own course regarding church organization, vision, ministry, worship and service. Churches are free to chose how and who they serve, as well as those who do the serving.

Separation of Church and State. The state and the church are separate entities. Each informs the other, but they are not to be combined into one force or entity. Baptists were influential in the writing and adoption of both the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. No political party, no candidate, no legislation is to hold sway over the individual conscience and one's freedom to worship God as inspired by God. A free church is best in a free state, and a free state is best filled by free churches.

Voluntary Association and Cooperation. Baptist congregations are free to choose with whom they partner in local and/or world mission. The mission cause has historically held Baptists together, even when there have been divisions over theology or social issues.

Confessions of Faith. These are guides in interpretation or understanding the Bible that are important to Baptists (and others) because they provide instruction for generally held articles of faith, but they have no authority over conscience. They are called confessions because they recognize the competency of the soul and the priesthood of all believers (see above), and are never complete statements of faith. Baptists have the right to draw up such confessions, but the sole authority of faith and practice is the Bible, particularly the New Testament. While drawn from the Bible, confessions of faith are not to be used to hamper freedom of thought or investigation in other realms of life.

Creed. Creeds are interpretations or written documents that carry the weight of judgment and exclusion. They are the arbiters of right and power for those who rely on them and are evaluated by them. True Baptists have avoided the use of a document as a creed or interpretation as a test of fellowship. Historically, there has been no such thing as "the" Baptist faith.

American Baptist Churches USA. The present name of Baptists from the North (now nationwide) who were opposed to slavery and who desired to discourage Baptists from owning slaves, and disallowing slave owners from being missionaries to slave-obtaining countries. Many churches in Missouri, in particular, were once identified as both ABC and SBC simultaneously. About 1.5 million people worship weekly in the 5,800 ABC/USA churches dotted among all 50 states. Their executive offices are in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

Alliance of Baptists. The Alliance began as the Southern Baptist Alliance, the first organized group responding to the Fundamentalist-conservative takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention. It changed its name to distance itself from what Southern Baptists had become and also to invite more than Southern Baptists into its circle. (There are more than forty distinctive Baptist denominations or missions-sending bodies in the USA that are registered with the IRS as non-profit organizations.) The Alliance holds high historic, distinctive Baptist principles such as soul competency, the separation of church and state, and the priesthood of all believers. It also seeks to be a force for peace justice, and freedom. Their executive offices are in Washington, D.C.

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. The CBF originated in Atlanta, GA, in 1991 out of an informal organization called Baptists Committed to the Southern Baptist Convention. Like the Alliance, the CBF was created in response to the orchestrated, politically Fundamentalist shift in SBC life. The CBF is made up of member individuals and institutions holding fast to historic Baptist principles. While CBF considers itself an independent missions-sending organization having supported over 170 missionaries, it is still reluctant to call itself a denomination. It prefers to be known as a partnering or resourcing organization for Baptists in mission . While many CBF supporting churches remain affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, CBF has no formal ties of any type with the SBC. Their executive offices are in Atlanta, Georgia.

First Baptist Church
1112 E. Broadway
Columbia, MO 65201
573-442-1149